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Fenghuang - The City Frozen in Time

The ancient town of Fenghuang is located in the southwest
corner of the west of Hunan province, in China, at the foot of a
mountain along the banks of the Tuo Jiang River. The town is
exceptionally well-preserved, untouched by modernization, harboring
unique ethnic languages, customs, arts as well as many distinctive
architectural remains of Ming and Qing styles. The ancient town
has basically maintained the layout and original appearances of the
Ming dynasty, of 14th century, and Qing dynasty, of 17th century, to
this day. There are preserved in the ancient town zone over 200 ancient
residential buildings, some 20 large or small streets, 10 ancient lanes
and alleys, as well as ancient town walls, ancient town gate towers,
ancient leaping rock, ancient wells, ancient rainbow bridges, ancient
temples of literature, ancient temples of poems, ancient ancestral
temples etc., all of which are by and large preserved in their original
state.Photo credit Fenghuang
Town used to be an uncivilized and wild frontier, and it was in the 2nd
year of Chuigong under the reign of Empress Wu (A.D.686) that Weiyang
County was first established. In the 3rd year of Jiatai period in the
Song Dynasty, an earthen town was constructed. This was replaced by a
brick town over 450 years ago, and an ancient town began to take shape.
By 1715, under Emperor Kangxi’s reign all stone buildings inside the
town were completed.
Fenghuang is laid out in a remote mountain
area. A red rock town wall winds along the undulating mountainous
landscape, riding over the ridges and valleys, while rivers wind along
the corridors before flowing out through the town. The stately and lofty
town towers sits majestically against the four town gates, and the
palace-style halls and residence, delicate quadrangles as well as
civilian residences of various national styles are distributed along
both sides of the streets. Dozens of alleys paved with flagstones run
between the houses, each showing wear caused by the feet of generations
of local people who have used them when going about their daily
business. Timber structured stilt houses line along the river against
the picturesque Nanhua Mountain full of big old trees.
Because
of its unique geographical location, Fenghuang never suffered from the
destruction of wars or natural disasters in hundreds of years. From the
Miao people uprising in 1795 to the Getun uprising in 1937, there
happened dozens of wars, none of which affected the town. Even during
the war of resistance against Japanese invasion, Fenghuang town had not
been occupied by Japanese invaders or suffered air bombing. In the year
of 1949, Fenghuang was peacefully liberated. In the following 50 years,
Fenghuang was spared of large-scale economical construction that
happened in other districts. As the people of the ancient town cherished
this especially valuable heritage bestowed by its profound cultural
gifts, the local government has conducted a strict control over all the
construction activities and thus successfully preserving the
authenticity and integrity of the ancient town.Photo creditPhoto creditPhoto creditPhoto creditPhoto creditPhoto creditPhoto creditPhoto creditPhoto creditPhoto creditPhoto creditPhoto creditPhoto creditPhoto creditPhoto creditPhoto creditPhoto creditPhoto credit
Sources: Wikipedia, Unesco